James Seeley of Hartest said he saw deceased driving a little pony and cart near his house.

"He asked me where he was, I said Hartest, he said how far is it to Bury, I said about 9½ miles, he asked me if there was a public house was nearby, I told him Hartest Crown was about ½ a mile down in the village, after I got down there he asked me where Mr Ruffel lived, I told him about ¾ of mile off in the common, we shook hands and he bade me goodbye, he said 'I will see you in the morning', he then drove fast down the hill, he seemed intoxicated, I told him to 'mind how you drive down there as it is a bad hill', he seemed alright when I left home.

I cannot tell whether it is the body of the man who drove off, it seemed to be but I had never seen him before so I can't tell."

John Garwood of Hartest said "On Thursday evening I saw deceased lying outside his horse and cart, three women came down the hill, they helped me put him in the cart and I drove him to Ruffel's (a little beer house), I was told to drive him to the policeman, I then drove him to Mr Nunn at Clockhouse farm at Brockley, what for I do not know.The Bury Free Press of January 2nd 1864 [1] reporting the inquest on James Reach

This seems to suggest that Ruffel's Beerhouse was in Hartest (perhaps in the north of the parish), though it may have been in another nearby parish.

This site uses cookies. Some may have been set already. Read about our cookies. Please click here to accept our cookies (and remove this message). If you continue to use the site, we'll assume you're happy to accept the cookies anyway (you may however block them using your browser's settings, though in that case, tabs may load inconsistently).